Apple Crisp

Cookbook author and baking authority Abby Dodge created this recipe exclusively for Epicurious. "The flavor of this dessert relies on the apples, as they can range from sweet to tart and everything in between," says Dodge. She recommends using a combination of McIntosh and Golden Delicious apples. The McIntosh variety is sweet and juicy, and breaks down when baked. Golden Delicious apples are more tart; they'll soften a bit in the oven, but will maintain their shape. Both are readily available, but Macouns are a good substitute for the McIntosh, and Honey Crisp can be used in place of the Golden Delicious.

Preparation

Make the crisp topping:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the butter pieces and use your fingers to rub the mixture together until the butter is incorporated and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the apple filling.

Make the apple filling:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F.

Peel the apples and cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the cores and discard. Cut the apple halves lengthwise into 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick slices—there should be about 6 cups total. Transfer the apple slices to an ungreased 8-inch-square baking dish and spread them out evenly. Drizzle up to 1/4 cup of water over the apples—use less water if the apples are particularly juicy.

Scatter the crisp topping evenly over the fruit without pressing down on it. Bake until the topping is browned, the apples are tender when pierced with a knife, and the juices are bubbling, about 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm, with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of heavy cream. DO AHEAD: Apple crisp can be baked, cooled completely, covered, and kept at room temperature for 1 day. Reheat, uncovered, in a warm oven until heated through.

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Reviews

This is a great basic crisp recipe. I don't like it when people change recipes in major ways, but I do like a little lemon juice (and a handful of chopped cranberries tossed with sugar) added to the apples. Also love the big end of the melon baller for voting the halved apples. Thanks!

Wow, Some People are so mean.. To Bonacker, you do not appear to be an expert on anything but being mean. I am certain you are not the designated Recipe Police. We still don't know it you liked it, changed it, added or deleted anything, we just know you took offense for some reason. This is a great recipe to use as a jumping off place, as are all recipes. I added pears and it was delicious.

Good heavens Bonacker. It's a recipe meant to be used, like all recipes, as a jumping off point not a bible. Seems you are stuck still using Joy of Cooking which most people move on from at some point in their life and learn to expand their horizons, experiment, improvise. It's a classic book with great techniques.... it's not the be all and end all of cooking. Lighten up my dear. It's Apple Crisp, not the cure for cancer.

Good but not the best crisp recipe I have ever made. The topping needs more crunch/crispiness to it - I think my other recipe uses oats or nuts to do this. Its o.k. though - can't go wrong with apple crisp.

I'm making this recipe 'off the cuff' based on a look-see and scan of a few other recipes and threw it together with what I had on hand. Came out pretty darned good too.
Disappointed in a catcalling post below. Notwithstanding the sniping from East Hampton [after all, it is East Hampton], you can research recipes for Apple Crisp until the cows come home and every cook, every cookbook, and every website has a teeny tiny difference in quantities and ingredients. Why? Because you cannot publish a recipe from one publication under another with no changes and without crediting the original source because that is called plagiarism. But if you change it, that's different. Recipes are all over the place now and it's basically a crapshoot about where they come from. Even the famous Cesar Salad is claimed by more than one.
Schools all over the country have made Apple Crisp for decades....all different, all hopefully delicious, and all based on a multitude of recipes. Church cookbooks have it, fund raiser cookbooks have it.
Who cares about a stick of butter, 2/3 cup, 8 tablespoons, whatever. It's a recipe. Various apples, seasonings, etc. It was the author's creation for Epicurious. Good for her.

Simple and delicious. I think this is a versatile recipe that stands up to variations and mistakes. I used only one kind of apple: red prince. I was in a hurry so I sliced them a little unevenly. I also didn't have an 8x8 dish so I placed the apples in the glass dish that I had so that I knew how many would fit. I think I used 3-5 and I had them layered a bit. I also used all purpose gluten free flour. And I think I overcooked it a bit. So despite my small blunders and changes, it still turned out really gooey and delicious.

A response to the scathing (rather) review from Bonacker, NY. I guess my Joy of Cooking is not "classic", since I purchased it in 1975. However, you have made some rather unpleasant and somewhat inaccurate statements. I am looking at the recipe now, (pg. 661-2). It calls for 1/2 (NOT 1 cup, as you stated), of brown sugar, (and as opposed to this one calling for 2/3 cup). Seems like a nice compromise to me. It calls for 1 tsp (opt) of Cinnamon, as opposed to this one, which calls for 3/4 tsp. which most reviewers said was not enough anyway. Since EVERY recipe I have looked at calls for these same ingredients in varying amounts, and some call for rolled oats and less flour....I find your review, well, unpleasant. Now, having said all that, researched several recipes, and combining what I consider to be the best of each, I shall endeavor to create my own version, but you can rest assured that as original as I might think it to be, it will, like all others, just be a variation (delicious none-the-less, I am certain) of an old theme. I guess I feel better now too.

Please look at page 637 of the classic version of "The Joy of Cooking," 1931-51. I mean . . . Some baking expert "created" this recipe especially for Epicurious?! Are they serious? This is the oldest Apple Crisp/Brown Betty/"Fruit Paradise" recipe in the book. Almost literally. My grandmother made this. I've made this since I was a kid. This recipe appeared in DECADES of editions of the freakin' "Joy of Cooking." The only difference is that "The Joy of Cooking" uses a full cup of brown sugar, not 3/4 cup. And you know what? It's better with the full cup! Just use the full cup! (Oh, and, also, "The Joy of Cooking just went ahead and called "8 tablespoons of butter" what it really is: um, a half-cup, people? also known as . . . "a stick of butter"? I find this a total L.O.L. I feel like the expert baker who "created this" especially for Epicurious was just trying to make the recipe look different, so no normal everyday bakers out there who use "The Joy of Cooking" would notice. Geez, people.

For a last minute dessert with apples and a few ingredients, this is a very good option. I would squeeze some lemon over the apples, or add a squeeze of lemon juice or zest to the apples or water to give it a bit more bite next time.

I made this tonight as a last minute dessert with some random apples I had around. It was great! I made it as directed but as I was slicing the apples I put them in water mixed with some lemon juice. (This keeps the slices from turning brown.) I didn't add the extra water to the apples because they didn't need it after the soak. After draining the apples of the water I tossed in the grated lemon zest as other reviewers suggested. Other than that made it as directed.

Made this for a small dinner party and it was almost all gone! I made a couple of changes: Added a little cinnamon/sugar mix to the apples, for the topping I substituted 1/2 cup of rolled oats for 1/2 cup of flour and added about 1/3 cup roasted, chopped pecans. Also agree that no additional water was needed with the apples. Delicious with ice cream or home made whipped cream!

To give it a little zip I used the microplane to finely grate some lemon peel over the apples after they were sliced in the pan. I used a half cup flour and a half cup of oatmeal instead of one cup of flour.

I usually make a Dutch Apple pie for Thanksgiving, but I thought I would do something easier this year, as it was going to be just my Dad and me. So I thought doing an apple crisp would be easier, since it is basically my apple pie without the crust.
Turns out, it was a FANTASTIC choice of a dessert, since not only did my Dad have a slice, he actually went and had SECONDS!!! Dad does not usually do desserts, so for him to have seconds, I knew I had a hit!

This is almost exactly the recipe I inherited from my mother, so I don't need to make it to comment. I totally agree with the combination of macs and yellow delicious, but I often use all macs, which do turn to much. If you use macs, you don't need to add water. My mother made hers with white sugar, but I have subbed brown sugar often enough, or a combo. It's quintessential apple crisp. No sugar or thickener needed in the apples themselves. Use real butter or don't make it at all. Cinnamon is optional. I use a light hand. Good when warm with a little cold, unsweetened heavy cream poured over.

Nice, easy recipe. I needed something for some last-minute dinner guests and had to use what I had on hand. I used a combination of golden delicious, braeburn and gala apples. With good vanilla ice cream, everyone enjoyed it.